Charles Dickens
dramatized by Fred Gaines
CHARACTERS
Carolers, Families, Dancers
First Boy
Second Boy
Third Boy
Girl with a doll
Ebenezer Scrooge
Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s clerk
Fred, Scrooge’s nephew
Gentleman Visitor
Warder and Residents
of the Poorhouse
Sparsit, Scrooge’s servant
Cook
Charwoman
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Jacob Marley
Priest
Leper
First Spirit, the Spirit
of Christmas Past
Jack Walton
Ben Benjamin
Child Scrooge
Fan, Scrooge’s sister
Fezziwig
Young Ebenezer
Dick Wilkins
Sweetheart of Young
Ebenezer
Second Spirit, the Spirit
of Christmas Present
Poorhouse Children
Mrs. Cratchit
Several Cratchit Children
Tiny Tim
Beggar Children, Hunger
and Ignorance
Third Spirit, the Spirit
of Christmas Yet to Come
Peter, a Cratchit child
Boy
Butcher
Coachman
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The play begins amid a swirl of street life in
Victorian London. Happy groups pass; brightly
costumed carolers and families call out to one
another and sing “Joy to the World.” Three boys
and a girl are grouped about a glowing mound
of coal. As the carolers leave the stage, the lights
dim and the focus shifts to the mound of coals,
bright against the dark. Slowly, the children begin
to respond to the warmth. A piano plays softly
as the children talk.
First Boy. I saw a horse in a window. ( pause)
A dapple . . . gray and white. And a saddle, too
. . . red. And a strawberry mane down to here.
All new. Golden stirrups. (People pass by the
children, muttering greetings to one another.)
Second Boy. Christmas Eve.
Third Boy. Wish we could go.
First Boy. So do I.
Third Boy. I think I’d like it.
First Boy. Oh, wouldn’t I . . . wouldn’t I!
Second Boy. We’re going up onto the roof.
(The boys look at him quizzically.) My father
has a glass. Telescope. A brass one. It opens up
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and it has twists on it and an eyepiece that you
put up to look through. We can see all the way
to the park with it.
Third Boy. Could I look through it?
Second Boy. Maybe . . . where would you look?
(The third boy points straight up.) Why there?
Third Boy. I’d like to see the moon.
(The boys stand and look upward as the girl
sings to her doll. One of the boys makes a snow
angel on the ground.)
Girl (singing).
Christ the King came down one day,
Into this world of ours,
And crying from a manger bed,
Began the Christmas hour.
(speaking)
Christ the King, my pretty one,
Sleep softly on my breast,
Christ the King, my gentle one,
Show us the way to rest.
(She begins to sing the first verse again. As snow
starts to fall on the boy making the snow angel, he
stands up and reaches out to catch a single flake.)
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~ scrooge in his shop ~
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The percussion1 thunders. Scrooge hurls himself
through the descending snowflakes and sends
the children scattering. They retreat, watching.
Cratchit comes in. He takes some coal from the
mound and puts it into a small bucket; as he
carries it to a corner of the stage, the stage area
is transformed from street to office. Scrooge’s
nephew Fred enters, talks with the children,
gives them coins, and sends them away with
a “Merry Christmas.”
Fred. A Merry Christmas, Uncle! God save you!
Scrooge. Bah! Humbug!
Fred. Christmas a humbug, Uncle? I hope that’s
meant as a joke.
Scrooge. Well, it’s not. Come, come, what is
it you want? Don’t waste all the day, Nephew.
Fred. I only want to wish you a Merry
Christmas, Uncle. Don’t be cross.
Scrooge. What else can I be when I live in such
a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! Out
with Merry Christmas! What’s Christmas to you
but a time for paying bills without money, a
time for finding yourself a year older and not an
hour richer. If I could work my will, every idiot
who goes about with “Merry Christmas” on his
lips should be boiled with his own pudding and
buried with a stake of holly through his heart.
Fred. Uncle!
Scrooge. Nephew, keep Christmas in your own
way and let me keep it in mine.
Fred. But you don’t keep it.
Scrooge. Let me leave it alone then. Much good
may it do you. Much good it has ever done you.
Fred. There are many things from which I
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might have derived good by which I have not
profited, I daresay, Christmas among the rest.
And though it has never put a scrap of gold
in my pocket, I believe it has done me good
and will do me good, and I say, God bless it!
Scrooge. Bah!
Fred. Don’t be angry, Uncle. Come! Dine with
us tomorrow.
Scrooge. I’ll dine alone, thank you.
Fred. But why?
Scrooge. Why? Why did you get married?
Fred. Why, because I fell in love with a
wonderful girl.
Scrooge. And I with solitude. Good afternoon.
Fred. Nay, Uncle, but you never came to
see me before I was married. Why give it as
a reason for not coming now?
Scrooge. Good afternoon.
Fred. I am sorry with all my heart to find you
so determined; but I have made the attempt in
homage to Christmas, and I’ll keep that good
spirit to the last. So, a Merry Christmas, Uncle.
Scrooge. Good afternoon!
Fred. And a Happy New Year!
Scrooge. Good afternoon! (Fred hesitates as
if to say something more. He sees that Scrooge
has gone to get a volume down from the shelf,
and so he starts to leave. As he leaves, the
doorbell rings.) Bells. Is it necessary to always
have bells? (The gentleman visitor enters,
causing the doorbell to ring again.) Cratchit!
Cratchit. Yes, sir?
Scrooge. The bell, fool! See to it!
Cratchit. Yes, sir. (He goes to the entrance.)
1. percussion: noise made by loudly striking objects, such as drums or cymbals.
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All photographs from the 2003 performance of A Christmas
Carol, production by Louisiana Tech University School of
the Performing Arts. Photos © Michael Rasbury.
1/8/11 4:38:11 AM
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Scrooge (muttering). Merry Christmas . . .
Wolves howling and a Merry Christmas . . .
Cratchit. It’s for you, sir.
Scrooge. Of course it’s for me. You’re not
receiving callers, are you? Show them in.
Cratchit. Right this way, sir. (The gentleman
visitor approaches Scrooge.)
Scrooge. Yes, yes?
Gentleman Visitor. Scrooge and Marley’s,
I believe. Have I the pleasure of addressing
Mr. Scrooge or Mr. Marley?
Scrooge. Marley’s dead. Seven years tonight.
What is it you want?
Gentleman Visitor. I have no doubt that his
liberality is well represented by his surviving
partner. Here, sir, my card. (He hands Scrooge
his business card.)
Scrooge. Liberality? No doubt of it? All right,
all right, I can read. What is it you want?
(He returns to his work.)
Gentleman Visitor. At this festive season
of the year . . .
Scrooge. It’s winter and cold. (He continues
his work and ignores the gentleman visitor.)
Gentleman Visitor. Yes . . . yes, it is, and the
more reason for my visit. At this time of the
year it is more than usually desirable to make
some slight provision for the poor and
destitute2 who suffer greatly from the cold.
Many thousands are in want of common
necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in
want of common comforts, sir.
Scrooge. Are there no prisons?
Gentleman Visitor. Many, sir.
Scrooge. And the workhouse?3 Is it still
in operation?
Gentleman Visitor. It is; still, I wish I could
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say it was not.
Scrooge. The poor law is still in full vigor then?
Gentleman Visitor. Yes, sir.
Scrooge. I’m glad to hear it. From what
you said, I was afraid someone had stopped
its operation.
Gentleman Visitor. Under the impression that
they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind
or body to the multitude, a few of us are
endeavoring to raise a fund to buy the poor
some meat and drink and means of warmth.
We choose this time because it is the time,
of all others, when want is keenly felt and
abundance rejoices.4 May I put you down for
something, sir?
Scrooge (retreating into the darkness temporarily).
Nothing.
Gentleman Visitor. You wish to be anonymous?
Scrooge. I wish to be left alone. Since you ask
me what I wish, sir, that is my answer. I don’t
make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t
afford to make idle people merry. I help support
the establishments I have mentioned . . . they
cost enough . . . and those who are poorly off
must go there.
Gentleman Visitor. Many can’t go there, and
many would rather die.
Scrooge. If they would rather die, they had
better do it and decrease the surplus population.
That is not my affair. My business is. It occupies
me constantly. (He talks both to the gentleman
visitor and to himself while he thumbs through his
books.) Ask a man to give up life and means . . .
fine thing. What is it, I want to know? Charity?
. . . (His nose deep in his books, he vaguely hears
the dinner bell being rung in the workhouse; he
2. destitute: people lacking the necessities of life.
3. workhouse: an establishment in which poor people are housed and required to do work.
4. abundance rejoices: those with wealth are happy.
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looks up as if he has heard it but never focuses on the
actual scene. The warder of the poorhouse stands in
a pool of light at the far left, slowly ringing a bell.)
Warder. Dinner. All right. Line up. (The poorly
clad, dirty residents of the poorhouse line up and
file by to get their evening dish of gruel,5 wordlessly
accepting it and going back to eat listlessly in the
gloom. Scrooge returns to the business of his office.
The procession continues for a moment, then the
image of the poorhouse is obscured by darkness.
The dejected gentleman visitor exits.)
Scrooge. Latch the door, Cratchit. Firmly, firmly.
Draft as cold as Christmas blowing in here.
Charity! (Cratchit goes to the door, starts to close
it, then sees the little girl with the doll. She seems
to beckon to him; he moves slowly toward her, and
they dance together for a moment. Scrooge continues to work. Suddenly carolers appear on the
platform, and a few phrases of their carol, “Angels
We Have Heard on High,” are heard. Scrooge
looks up.) Cratchit! (As soon as Scrooge shouts,
the girl and the carolers vanish and Cratchit
begins to close up the shop.) Cratchit!
Cratchit. Yes, sir.
Scrooge. Well, to work then!
Cratchit. It’s evening, sir.
Scrooge. Is it?
Cratchit. Christmas evening, sir.
Scrooge. Oh, you’ll want all day tomorrow off,
I suppose.
Cratchit. If it’s quite convenient, sir.
Scrooge. It’s not convenient, and it’s not fair. If I
was to deduct half a crown6 from your salary for it,
you’d think yourself ill-used, wouldn’t you? Still you
expect me to pay a day’s wage for a day of no work.
Cratchit. It’s only once a year, sir.
Scrooge. Be here all the earlier the next morning.
Cratchit. I will, sir.
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Scrooge. Then off, off.
Cratchit. Yes, sir! Merry Christmas, sir!
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Scrooge. Bah! (As soon as Cratchit opens the door,
the sounds of the street begin, very bright and loud.
Cratchit is caught up in a swell of people hurrying
through the street. Children pull him along to the
top of an ice slide, and he runs and slides down it,
disappearing in darkness as the stage suddenly is left
almost empty. Scrooge goes around the room blowing out the candles, talking to himself.) Christmas
Eve. Carolers! Bah! There. Another day. (He
opens his door and peers out.) Black, very black.
Now where are they? (The children are heard
singing carols for a moment.) Begging pennies for
their songs, are they? Oh, boy! Here, boy! (The
little girl emerges from the shadows. Scrooge hands
her a dark lantern, and she holds it while he lights
it with an ember from the pile of coals.)
5. gruel: a thin, watery food made by boiling ground grain in water or milk.
6. half a crown: until 1971, an amount of British money equal to one-eighth of a pound. The pound is the
basic unit of British money.
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~ scrooge goes home ~
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Scrooge (talking to the little girl). Hold it quiet!
Cook (waiting for her Christmas coin). Merry
There. Off now. That’s it. High. Black as pitch.
Light the street, that’s it. You’re a bright lad!
Good to see that. Earn your supper, boy. You’ll
not go hungry this night. Home. You know
the way, do you? Yes, that’s the way. The house
of Ebenezer Scrooge. (As the two find their way
to Scrooge’s house, the audience sees and hears a
brief image of a cathedral interior with a
living crèche7 and a large choir singing “Amen!”;
the image ends in a blackout. The lights come
up immediately, and Scrooge is at his door.)
Hold the light up, boy, up. (The girl with the
lantern disappears.) Where did he go? Boy? No
matter. There’s a penny saved. Lantern’s gone
out. No matter. A candle saved. Yes, here’s the
key. (He turns with the key toward the door, and
Marley’s face swims out of the darkness. Scrooge
watches, unable to speak. He fumbles for a match,
lights the lantern, and swings it toward the figure, which melts away. Pause. Scrooge fits the
key in the lock and turns it as the door suddenly
is opened from the inside by the porter, Sparsit.
Scrooge is startled, then recovers.) Sparsit?
Sparsit. Yes, sir?
Scrooge. Hurry, hurry. The door . . . close it.
Sparsit. Did you knock, sir?
Scrooge. Knock? What matter? Here, light me
up the stairs.
Sparsit. Yes, sir. (He leads Scrooge up the stairs.
They pass the cook on the way. Scrooge brushes by
her, stops, looks back, and she leans toward him.)
Cook. Something to warm you, sir? Porridge?
Scrooge. Wha . . . ? No. No, nothing.
Christmas, sir. (Scrooge ignores the request and the
cook disappears. Mumbling, Scrooge follows Sparsit.)
Scrooge (looking back after the cook is gone).
Fright a man nearly out of his life . . . Merry
Christmas . . . bah!
Sparsit. Your room, sir.
Scrooge. Hmmm? Oh, yes, yes. And good
night.
Sparsit (extending his hand for his coin). Merry
Christmas, sir.
Scrooge. Yes, yes . . . (He sees the outstretched
hand; he knows what Sparsit wants and is
infuriated.) Out! Out! (He closes the door after
Sparsit, turns toward his chamber, and discovers
the charwoman directly behind him.)
Charwoman. Warm your bed for you, sir?
Scrooge. What? Out! Out!
Charwoman. Aye, sir. (She starts for the door.
Marley’s voice is heard mumbling something
unintelligible.)
Scrooge. What’s that?
Charwoman. Me, sir? Not a thing, sir.
Scrooge. Then, good night.
Charwoman. Good night. (She exits, and
Scrooge pantomimes shutting the door behind her.
The voice of Marley over an offstage microphone
whispers and reverberates:8 “Merry Christmas,
Scrooge!” Silence. Scrooge hears the voice but
cannot account for it. He climbs up to open a
window and looks down. A cathedral choir singing
“O Come, All Ye Faithful” is heard in the distance.
Scrooge listens a moment, shuts the window,
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7. a cathedral interior with a living crèche: the inside of a large church in which real people pose for the
Christmas manger scene.
8. reverberates (rG-vûrPbE-rAtsQ): echoes.
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and prepares for bed. As soon as he has shut the
sound out of his room, figures appear; they seem
to be coming down the main aisle of a church,
bearing gifts to the living crèche. The orchestra
plays “O Come, All Ye Faithful” as the procession
files out. Scrooge, ready for bed, warms himself
before the heap of coals. As he pulls his nightcap
from a chair, a small hand-bell tumbles off onto
the floor. Startled, he picks it up and rings it for
reassurance; an echo answers it. He turns and
sees the little girl on the street; she is swinging her
doll, which produces the echo of his bell. Scrooge
escapes to his bed; the girl is swallowed up in the
darkness. The bell sounds grow to a din,
incoherent as in a dream, then suddenly fall
silent. Scrooge sits up in bed, listens, and hears the
chains of Marley coming up the stairs. Scrooge
reaches for the bell pull to summon Sparsit.
The bell responds with a gong, and Marley
appears. He and Scrooge face one another.)
Scrooge. What do you want with me?
Marley (in a ghostly, unreal voice). Much.
Scrooge. Who are you?
Marley. Ask who I was.
Scrooge. Who were you?
Marley. In life, I was your partner, Jacob Marley.
Scrooge. He’s dead.
Marley. Seven years this night, Ebenezer Scrooge.
Scrooge. Why do you come here?
Marley. I must. It is commanded me. I must
wander the world and see what I can no longer
share, what I would not share when I walked
where you do.
Scrooge. And must go thus?
Marley. The chain? Look at it, Ebenezer, study
it. Locks and vaults and golden coins. I forged
it, each link, each day when I sat in these chairs,
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commanded these rooms. Greed, Ebenezer
Scrooge, wealth. Feel them, know them.
Yours was as heavy as this I wear seven years
ago, and you have labored to build it since.
Scrooge. If you’re here to lecture, I have
no time for it. It is late; the night is cold.
I want comfort now.
Marley. I have none to give. I know not how
you see me this night. I did not ask it. I have
sat invisible beside you many and many a
day. I am commanded to bring you a chance,
Ebenezer. Heed it!
Scrooge. Quickly then, quickly.
Marley. You will be haunted by three spirits.
Scrooge (scoffing). Is that the chance?
Marley. Mark it.
Scrooge. I do not choose to.
Marley (ominously). Then you will walk where
I do, burdened by your riches, your greed.
Scrooge. Spirits mean nothing to me.
Marley (slowly leaving). Expect the first
tomorrow, when the bell tolls one, the second
on the next night at the same hour, the third
upon the next night when the last stroke of
twelve has ended. Look to see me no more.
I must wander. Look that, for your own sake,
you remember what has passed between us.
Scrooge. Jacob . . . Don’t leave me! . . . Jacob!
Jacob!
Marley. Adieu,9 Ebenezer. (At Marley’s last words
a funeral procession begins to move across the stage.
A boy walks in front; a priest follows, swinging
a censer;10 sounds of mourning and the suggestion
of church music are heard. Scrooge calls out,
“Jacob, don’t leave me!” as if talking in the midst
of a bad dream. At the end of the procession is the
little girl, swinging her doll and singing softly.)
9. adieu (E-dyLP): farewell.
10. censer: a container in which incense is burned.
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Girl.
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Hushabye, don’t you cry,
Go to sleep, little baby.
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses,
Blacks and bays, dapples and grays,
All the pretty little horses.
(She stops singing and looks up at Scrooge; their
eyes meet, and she solemnly rings the doll in greeting. Scrooge pulls shut the bed curtains, and the
girl exits. The bell sounds are picked up by the bells
of a leper11 who enters, dragging himself along.)
Leper (calling out). Leper! Leper! Stay the way!
Leper! Leper! Keep away! (He exits and the clock
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begins to chime, ringing the hours. Scrooge sits
up in bed and begins to count the chimes.)
Scrooge. Eight . . . nine . . . ten . . . eleven . . .
it can’t be . . . twelve. Midnight? No. Not twelve.
It can’t be. I haven’t slept the whole day through.
Twelve? Yes, yes, twelve noon. (He hurries to the
window and looks out.) Black. Twelve midnight.
( pause) I must get up. A day wasted. I must get
down to the office. (Two small chimes are heard.)
Quarter past. But it just rang twelve. Fifteen
minutes haven’t gone past, not so quickly.
(Again two small chimes are heard.) A quarter
to one. The spirit . . . It’s to come at one. (He
hurries to his bed as the chimes ring again.) One.
11. leper: a person who has leprosy, a skin disease once
thought to be highly contagious.
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~ the spirit of christmas past ~
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The hour is struck again by a large street clock,
and the first spirit appears. It is a figure dressed
to look like the little girl’s doll.
Scrooge. Are you the spirit whose coming was
foretold to me?
First Spirit. I am.
Scrooge. Who and what are you?
First Spirit. I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Scrooge. Long past?
First Spirit. Your past.
Scrooge. Why are you here?
First Spirit. Your welfare. Rise. Walk with me.
Scrooge. I am mortal still. I cannot pass
through air.
First Spirit. My hand. (Scrooge grasps the spirit’s
hand tightly, and the doll’s bell rings softly. Scrooge
remembers a scene from his past in which two
boys greet each other in the street.)
First Voice. Halloo, Jack!
Second Voice. Ben! Merry Christmas, Ben!
Scrooge. Jack Walton. Young Jack Walton.
Spirits . . . ?
First Voice. Have a good holiday, Jack.
Scrooge. Yes, yes, I remember him. Both
of them. Little Ben Benjamin. He used to . . .
First Voice. See you next term, Jack. Next . . .
term . . .
Scrooge. They . . . they’re off for the holidays
and going home from school. It’s Christmas
time . . . all of the children off home now . . .
No . . . no, not all . . . there was one . . .
12. Ali Baba: in the Arabian Nights, a poor woodcutter who
discovers a treasure.
13. Robinson Crusoe: a shipwrecked sailor who survives for years
on a small island in the novel Robinson Crusoe.
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(The spirit motions for Scrooge to turn, and
he sees a young boy playing with a teddy bear
and talking to it.) Yes . . . reading . . . poor boy.
First Spirit. What, I wonder?
Scrooge. Reading? Oh, it was nothing. Fancy,
all fancy and make-believe and take-me-away.
All of it. Yes, nonsense.
Child Scrooge. Ali Baba.12
Scrooge. Yes . . . that was it . . .
Child Scrooge. Yes, and remember . . . and
remember . . . remember Robinson Crusoe?13
Scrooge. And the parrot!
Child Scrooge. Yes, the parrot! I love him best.
Scrooge (imitating the parrot). With his stripy green
body and yellow tail drooping along and couldn’t
sing—awk—but could talk, and a thing like a
lettuce growing out the top of his head . . . and
he used to sit on the very top of the tree—up there.
Child Scrooge. And Robinson Crusoe sailed
around the island, and he thought he had
escaped the island, and the parrot said, the
parrot said . . .
Scrooge (imitating the parrot). Robinson
Crusoe, where you been? Awk! Robinson
Crusoe, where you been?
Child Scrooge. And Robinson Crusoe looked up
in the tree and saw the parrot and knew he hadn’t
escaped and he was still there, still all alone there.
Scrooge. Poor Robinson Crusoe.
Child Scrooge (sadly replacing the teddy bear).
Poor Robinson Crusoe.
Scrooge. Poor child. Poor child.
First Spirit. Why poor?
Scrooge. Fancy . . . fancy . . . (He tries to mask his
feelings by being brusque.) It’s his way, a child’s
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way to . . . to lose being alone in . . . in dreams,
dreams . . . Never matter if they are all nonsense,
yes, nonsense. But he’ll be all right, grow out
of it. Yes. Yes, he did outgrow it, the nonsense.
Became a man and left there, and he became, yes,
he became a man and . . . yes, successful . . . rich!
(The sadness returns.) Never matter . . . never matter. (Fan runs in and goes to Child Scrooge.) Fan!
Fan. Brother, dear brother! (She kisses Child Scrooge.)
Child Scrooge. Dear, dear Fan.
Fan. I’ve come to bring you home, home for
good and ever. Come with me, come now.
(She takes his hand, and they start to run off, but
the spirit stops them and signals for the light on
them to fade. They look at the spirit, aware of
their role in the spirit’s “education” of Scrooge.)
Scrooge. Let me watch them go? Let them be happy
for a moment! (The spirit says nothing. Scrooge turns
away from them, and the light goes out.) A delicate,
delicate child. A breath might have withered her.
First Spirit. She died a woman and had, as
I remember, children.
Scrooge. One child.
First Spirit. Your nephew.
Scrooge. Yes, yes, Fred, my nephew. (Scrooge
pauses, then tries to bluster through.) Well? Well,
all of us have that, haven’t we? Childhoods?
Sadnesses? But we grow and we become men,
masters of ourselves. (The spirit gestures for music
to begin. It is heard first as from a great distance,
then Scrooge becomes aware of it.) I’ve no time
for it, Spirit. Music and all of your Christmas
folderol.14 Yes, yes, I’ve learnt what you have
to show me. (Fezziwig, Young Ebenezer, and
Dick appear, busily preparing for a party.)
Fezziwig. Yo ho, there! Ebenezer! Dick!
Scrooge. Fezziwig! It’s old Fezziwig that
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I ’prenticed15 under.
First Spirit. Your master?
Scrooge. Oh, aye, and the best that any boy
could have. There’s Dick Wilkins! Bless me.
He was very much attached to me was Dick.
Poor Dick. Dear, dear.
Fezziwig. Yo ho, my boys! No more work
tonight. Christmas Eve, Dick! Christmas,
Ebenezer! Let’s have the shutters up before
a man can say Jack Robinson! (The music
continues. Chandeliers are pulled into position,
and mistletoe, holly, and ivy are draped over
everything by bustling servants. Dancers fill
the stage for Fezziwig’s wonderful Christmas
party. In the midst of the dancing and the gaiety
servants pass back and forth through the crowd
with huge platters of food. At a pause in the music,
Young Ebenezer, who is dancing, calls out.)
Young Ebenezer. Mr. Fezziwig, sir, you’re
a wonderful master!
Scrooge and Young Ebenezer. A wonderful master!
Scrooge (echoing the phrase). A wonderful
master! (The music changes suddenly, and
the dancers jerk into distorted postures and
then begin to move in slow motion. The
celebrants slowly exit, performing a macabre
dance to discordant sounds.16)
First Spirit. Just because he gave a party?
It was very small.
Scrooge. Small!
First Spirit. He spent a few pounds of your
“mortal” money, three, four at the most.
Is that so much that he deserves this praise?
Scrooge. But it wasn’t the money. He had the
power to make us happy, to make our service
light or burdensome. The happiness he gives
14. folderol (fJlP-dE-rJlQ): foolishness; nonsense.
15. ’prenticed: short for apprenticed, here meaning “learned a trade while working.”
16. macabre (mE-käPbrE) dance to discordant sounds: a bizarre, ghastly dance with unharmonious music.
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is quite as great as if it cost a fortune. That’s what
. . . a good master is.
First Spirit. Yes?
Scrooge. No, no, nothing.
First Spirit. Something, I think.
Scrooge. I should like to be able to say a word
or two to my clerk just now, that’s all.
First Spirit. But this is all past. Your clerk,
Cratchit, couldn’t be here.
Scrooge. No, no, of course not, an idle thought.
Are we done?
First Spirit (motioning for the waltz music to
begin). Nearly.
Scrooge (hearing the waltz and remembering it). Surely
it’s enough. Haven’t you tormented me enough?
(Young Ebenezer is seen waltzing with his Sweetheart.)
First Spirit. I only show the past, what it
promised you. Look. Another promise.
Scrooge. Oh. Oh, yes. I had forgotten . . . her.
Don’t they dance beautifully? So young, so
young. I would have married her if only . . .
Sweetheart. Can you love me, Ebenezer?
I bring no dowry17 to my marriage, only me,
only love. It is no currency that you can buy
and sell with, but we can live with it. Can you?
(She pauses, then returns the ring Scrooge gave
her as his pledge.) I release you, Ebenezer, for
the love of the man you once were. Will that
man win me again, now that he is free?
Scrooge (trying to speak to her). If only you had
held me to it. You should not have let me go.
I was young; I did love you.
Sweetheart (speaking to Young Ebenezer).
We have never lied to one another. May you be
happy in the life you have chosen. Good-bye.
(She runs out. Young Ebenezer slowly leaves.)
Scrooge. No, no, it was not meant that way . . . !
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First Spirit. You cannot change now what you
would not change then. I am your mistakes,
Ebenezer Scrooge, all of the things you could
have done and did not.
Scrooge. Then leave me! I have done them. I
shall live with them. As I have, as I do; as I will.
First Spirit. There is another Christmas, seven
years ago, when Marley died.
Scrooge. No! I will not see it. I will not! He
died. I could not prevent it. I did not choose
for him to die on Christmas Day.
First Spirit. And when his day was chosen,
what did you do then?
Scrooge. I looked after his affairs.
First Spirit. His business.
Scrooge. Yes! His business! Mine! It was all that
I had, all that I could do in this world. I have
nothing to do with the world to come after.
First Spirit. Then I will leave you.
Scrooge. Not yet! Don’t leave me here! Tell me
what I must do! What of the other spirits?
First Spirit. They will come.
Scrooge. And you? What of you?
First Spirit. I am always with you. (The little girl
appears with her doll; she takes Scrooge’s hand and
gently leads him to bed. Numbed, he follows her.
She leans against the foot of the bed, ringing the
doll and singing. The first spirit exits as she sings.)
Girl.
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When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses,
Blacks and bays, dapples and grays,
All the pretty little horses.
(She rings the doll, and the ringing becomes the
chiming of Scrooge’s bell. The girl exits. Scrooge
sits upright in bed as he hears the chimes.)
Scrooge. A minute until one. No one here. No
one’s coming. (A larger clock strikes one o’clock.)
17. dowry (douPrC): money or property brought by a bride to her husband when they marry.
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~ the spirit of christmas present ~
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A light comes on. Scrooge becomes aware
of it and goes slowly to it. He sees the second
spirit, the Spirit of Christmas Present, who
looks like Fezziwig.
Scrooge. Fezziwig!
Second Spirit. Hello, Scrooge.
Scrooge. But you can’t be . . . not Fezziwig.
Second Spirit. Do you see me as him?
Scrooge. I do.
Second Spirit. And hear me as him?
Scrooge. I do.
Second Spirit. I wish I were the gentleman,
so as not to disappoint you.
Scrooge. But you’re not . . . ?
Second Spirit. No, Mr. Scrooge. You have
never seen the like of me before. I am the
Ghost of Christmas Present.
Scrooge. But . . .
Second Spirit. You see what you will see, Scrooge,
no more. Will you walk out with me this
Christmas Eve?
Scrooge. But I am not yet dressed.
Second Spirit. Take my tails, dear boy,
we’re leaving.
Scrooge. Wait!
Second Spirit. What is it now?
Scrooge. Christmas Present, did you say?
Second Spirit. I did.
Scrooge. Then we are traveling here? In this
town? London? Just down there?
Second Spirit. Yes, yes, of course.
18. bob: a British slang term for shillings. (There were
20 shillings in a pound.)
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Scrooge. Then we could walk? Your flying is . . .
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well, too sudden for an old man. Well?
Second Spirit. It’s your Christmas, Scrooge;
I am only the guide.
Scrooge ( puzzled ). Then we can walk? (The
spirit nods.) Where are you guiding me to?
Second Spirit. Bob Cratchit’s.
Scrooge. My clerk?
Second Spirit. You did want to talk to him?
(Scrooge pauses, uncertain how to answer.)
Don’t worry, Scrooge, you won’t have to.
Scrooge (trying to change the subject, to cover
his error). Shouldn’t be much of a trip. With
fifteen bob18 a week, how far off can it be?
Second Spirit. A world away, Scrooge, at least
that far. (Scrooge and the spirit start to step
off a curb when a funeral procession enters with
a child’s coffin, followed by the poorhouse
children, who are singing. Seated on top of the
coffin is the little girl. She and Scrooge look at
one another.) That is the way to it, Scrooge.
(The procession follows the coffin offstage; Scrooge
and the spirit exit after the procession. As they
leave, the lights focus on Mrs. Cratchit and her
children. Mrs. Cratchit sings as she puts Tiny
Tim and the other children to bed, all in one
bed. She pulls a dark blanket over them.)
Mrs. Cratchit (singing).
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses,
Blacks and bays, dapples and grays,
All the pretty little horses.
To sleep now, all of you. Christmas tomorrow.
(She kisses them and goes to Bob Cratchit, who is by
the hearth.) How did our little Tiny Tim behave?
Bob Cratchit. As good as gold and better.
He told me, coming home, that he hoped the
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people saw him in church because he was
a cripple and it might be pleasant to them
to remember upon Christmas Day who made
the lame to walk and the blind to see.
Mrs. Cratchit. He’s a good boy. (The second spirit
and Scrooge enter. Mrs. Cratchit feels a sudden
draft.) Oh, the wind. (She gets up to shut the door.)
Second Spirit. Hurry. (He nudges Scrooge
in before Mrs. Cratchit shuts the door.)
Scrooge. Hardly hospitable is what I’d say.
Second Spirit. Oh, they’d say a great deal more,
Scrooge, if they could see you.
Scrooge. Oh, they should, should they?
Second Spirit. Oh yes, I’d think they might.
Scrooge. Well, I might have a word for
them . . .
Second Spirit. You’re here to listen.
Scrooge. Oh. Oh yes, all right. By the fire?
Second Spirit. But not a word.
Bob Cratchit (raising his glass). My dear,
to Mr. Scrooge. I give you Mr. Scrooge, the
founder of the feast.
Mrs. Cratchit. The founder of the feast indeed!
I wish I had him here! I’d give him a piece
of my mind to feast upon, and I hope he’d
have a good appetite for it.
Bob Cratchit. My dear, Christmas Eve.
Mrs. Cratchit. It should be Christmas Eve,
I’m sure, when one drinks the health of such
an odious,19 stingy, hard, unfeeling man as
Mr. Scrooge. You know he is, Robert! Nobody
knows it better than you do, poor dear.
Bob Cratchit. I only know one thing on
Christmas: that one must be charitable.
Mrs. Cratchit. I’ll drink to his health for your
sake and the day’s, not for his. Long life to
him! A Merry Christmas and a Happy New
19. odious (IPdC-Es): causing or deserving strong dislike.
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Year. He’ll be very merry and very happy,
I have no doubt.
Bob Cratchit. If he cannot be, we must be happy
for him. A song is what is needed. Tim!
Mrs. Cratchit. Shush! I’ve just gotten him down,
and he needs all the sleep he can get.
Bob Cratchit. If he’s asleep on Christmas Eve,
I’ll be much mistaken. Tim! He must sing, dear;
there is nothing else that might make him well.
Tiny Tim. Yes, Father?
Bob Cratchit. Are you awake?
Tiny Tim. Just a little.
Bob Cratchit. A song then! (The children awaken
and, led by Tiny Tim, sit up to sing “What Child
Is This?” As they sing, Scrooge speaks.)
Scrooge. (He holds up his hand; all stop singing and look at him.) I . . . I have seen enough.
(When the spirit signals to the children, they
leave the stage, singing the carol quietly. Tiny
Tim remains, covered completely by the dark
blanket, disappearing against the black.) Tiny
Tim . . . will he live?
Second Spirit. He is very ill. Even song cannot
keep him whole through a cold winter.
Scrooge. But you haven’t told me!
Second Spirit (imitating Scrooge). If he be like to
die, he had better do it and decrease the surplus
population. (Scrooge turns away.) Erase, Scrooge,
those words from your thoughts. You are not the
judge. Do not judge, then. It may be that in the
sight of heaven you are more worthless and less
fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child.
Oh God! To hear an insect on a leaf pronouncing
that there is too much life among his hungry
brothers in the dust. Good-bye, Scrooge.
Scrooge. But is there no happiness in
Christmas Present?
Second Spirit. There is.
Scrooge. Take me there.
Second Spirit. It is at the home of your
nephew . . .
Scrooge. No!
Second Spirit (disgusted with Scrooge). Then
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there is none.
Scrooge. But that isn’t enough . . . You must
teach me!
Second Spirit. Would you have a teacher,
Scrooge? Look at your own words.
Scrooge. But the first spirit gave me more . . . !
Second Spirit. He was Christmas Past. There
was a lifetime he could choose from. I have
only this day, one day, and you, Scrooge. I have
nearly lived my fill of both. Christmas Present
must be gone at midnight. That is near now.
(He speaks to two beggar children who pause
shyly at the far side of the stage. The children are
thin and wan; they are barefoot and wear filthy
rags.) Come. (They go to him.)
Scrooge. Is this the last spirit who is to come
to me?
Second Spirit. They are no spirits. They are
real. Hunger, Ignorance. Not spirits, Scrooge,
passing dreams. They are real. They walk your
streets, look to you for comfort. And you
deny them. Deny them not too long, Scrooge.
They will grow and multiply, and they will not
remain children.
Scrooge. Have they no refuge, no resource?
Second Spirit (again imitating Scrooge). Are
there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?
(tenderly to the children) Come. It’s Christmas
Eve. (He leads them offstage.)
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~ the spirit of christmas yet to come ~
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Scrooge is entirely alone for a long moment.
He is frightened by the darkness and feels it
approaching him. Suddenly he stops, senses the
presence of the third spirit, turns toward him,
and sees him. The spirit is bent and cloaked.
No physical features are distinguishable.
Scrooge. You are the third. (The spirit says
nothing.) The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
(The spirit says nothing.) Speak to me. Tell me
what is to happen—to me, to all of us. (The
spirit says nothing.) Then show me what I must
see. (The spirit points. Light illumines the shadowy
recesses of Scrooge’s house.) I know it. I know it
too well, cold and cheerless. It is mine. (The cook
and the charwoman are dimly visible in Scrooge’s
house.) What is . . . ? There are . . . thieves! There
are thieves in my rooms! (He starts forward
to accost them, but the spirit beckons for him
to stop.) I cannot. You cannot tell me that
I must watch them and do nothing. I will
not. It is mine still. (He rushes into the house
to claim his belongings and to protect them.
The two women do not notice his presence.)
Cook. He ain’t about, is he? (The charwoman
laughs.) Poor ol’ Scrooge ’as met ’is end.20
(She laughs with the charwoman.)
Charwoman. An’ time for it, too; ain’t been
alive in deed for half his life.
Cook. But the Sparsit’s nowhere, is he . . . ?
Sparsit (emerging from the blackness). Lookin’
for someone, ladies? (The cook shrieks, but
the charwoman treats the matter more practically,
anticipating competition from Sparsit.)
Charwoman. There ain’t enough but for the
two of us!
Sparsit. More ’an enough . . . if you know
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where to look.
Cook. Hardly decent is what I’d say, hardly
decent, the poor old fella hardly cold and
you’re thievin’ his wardrobe.
Sparsit. You’re here out of love, are ya?
Charwoman. There’s no time for that. (Sparsit
acknowledges Scrooge for the first time,
gesturing toward him as if the living Scrooge
were the corpse. Scrooge stands as if rooted to
the spot, held there by the power of the spirit.)
Sparsit. He ain’t about to bother us, is he?
Charwoman. Ain’t he a picture?
Cook. If he is, it ain’t a happy one.
(They laugh.)
Sparsit. Ladies, shall we start? (The three
of them grin and advance on Scrooge.) Cook?
Cook (snatching the cuff links from the shirt
Scrooge wears). They’re gold, ain’t they?
Sparsit. The purest, madam.
Charwoman. I always had a fancy for that
nightcap of his. My old man could use it. (She
takes the nightcap from Scrooge’s head. Sparsit
playfully removes Scrooge’s outer garment, the coat
or cloak that he has worn in the previous scenes.)
Sparsit. Bein’ a man of more practical tastes,
I’ll go for the worsted21 and hope the smell
ain’t permanent. (The three laugh.) Cook,
we go round again.
Cook. Do you think that little bell he’s always
ringing at me is silver enough to sell? (The
three of them move toward the nightstand, and
Scrooge cries out.)
20. ’as met ’is end: a dialect pronunciation of “has met his end.”
21. worsted: a smooth woolen fabric.
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Scrooge. No more! No more! (As the spirit
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22
directs Scrooge’s attention to the tableau
of the three thieves standing poised over the silver
bell, Scrooge bursts out of the house, clad only
in his nightshirt.) I cannot. I cannot. The room
is . . . too like a cheerless place that is familiar.
I won’t see it. Let us go from here. Anywhere.
(The spirit directs his attention to the Cratchit
house; the children are sitting together near
Mrs. Cratchit, who is sewing a coat. Peter reads
by the light of the coals.)
Peter. “And he took a child and set him in the
midst of them.”
Mrs. Cratchit ( putting her hand to her face).
The light tires my eyes so. ( pause) They’re
better now. It makes them tired to try to see
by firelight, and I wouldn’t show reddened
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eyes to your father when he comes home
for the world. It must be near his time now.
Peter. Past it, I think, but he walks slower
than he used to, these last few days, Mother.
Mrs. Cratchit. I have known him to walk
with . . . I have known him to walk with
Tiny Tim upon his shoulder very fast indeed.
(She catches herself, then hurries on.) But he
was very light to carry and his father loved
him, so that it was no trouble, no trouble.
(She hears Bob Cratchit approaching.)
Smiles, everyone, smiles.
Bob Cratchit (entering). My dear, Peter . . .
(He greets the other children by their real
names.) How is it coming?
Mrs. Cratchit (handing him the coat).
Nearly done.
22. tableau (tBbPlIQ): a portion of a play where the actors momentarily freeze in their positions for
dramatic effect.
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Bob Cratchit. Yes, good, I’m sure that it will
Peter. Everybody knows that.
be done long before Sunday.
Mrs. Cratchit. Sunday! You went today
then, Robert?
Bob Cratchit. Yes. It’s . . . it’s all ready. Two
o’clock. And a nice place. It would have done
you good to see how green it is. But you’ll see
it often. I promised him that, that I would
walk there on Sunday . . . often.
Mrs. Cratchit. We mustn’t hurt ourselves for
it, Robert.
Bob Cratchit. No. No, he wouldn’t have wanted
that. Come now. You won’t guess who I’ve
seen. Scrooge’s nephew, Fred. And he asked
after us and said he was heartily sorry and to
give his respect to my good wife. How he ever
knew that, I don’t know.
Mrs. Cratchit. Knew what, my dear?
Bob Cratchit. Why, that you were a good wife.
Bob Cratchit. I hope that they do. “Heartily
sorry,” he said, “for your good wife, and
if I can be of service to you in any way—”
and he gave me his card—“that’s where
I live”—and Peter, I shouldn’t be at all
surprised if he got you a position.
Mrs. Cratchit. Only hear that, Peter!
Bob Cratchit. And then you’ll be keeping
company with some young girl and setting
up for yourself.
Peter. Oh, go on.
Bob Cratchit. Well, it will happen, one day,
but remember, when that day does come—
as it must—we must none of us forget poor
Tiny Tim and this first parting in our family.
Scrooge. He died! No, no! (He steps back and the
scene disappears; he moves away from the spirit.)
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Scrooge. Because he would not . . . no! You can-
Boy. Eh?
not tell me that he has died, for that Christmas
has not come! I will not let it come! I will be
there . . . It was me. Yes, yes, and I knew it and
couldn’t look. I won’t be able to help. I won’t.
(pause) Spirit, hear me. I am not the man I was.
I will not be that man that I have been for so
many years. Why show me all of this if I am past
all hope? Assure me that I yet may change these
shadows you have shown me. Let the boy live!
I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to
keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the
Present, and the Future. The spirits of all three
shall strive within me. I will not shut out the
lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me that I am
not too late! (A single light focuses on the little girl,
dressed in a blue cloak like that of the Virgin Mary.
She looks up, and from above a dove is slowly
lowered in silence to her; she takes it and encloses
it within her cloak, covering it. As soon as she does
this, a large choir is heard singing “Gloria!” and the
bells begin to ring. Blackout. When the lights come
up again, Scrooge is in bed. The third spirit and
the figures in the church have disappeared. Scrooge
awakens and looks around his room.) The curtains! They are mine and they are real. They are
not sold. They are here. I am here; the shadows
to come may be dispelled. They will be. I know
they will be. (He dresses himself hurriedly.) I don’t
know what to do. I’m as light as a feather, merry
as a boy again. Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! A Happy New Year to all the world! Hello
there! Whoop! Hallo! What day of the month
is it? How long did the spirits keep me? Never
mind. I don’t care. (He opens the window and
calls to a boy in the street below.) What’s today?
Scrooge. What’s the day, my fine fellow?
Boy. Today? Why, Christmas Day!
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Scrooge. It’s Christmas Day! I haven’t missed
it! The spirits have done it all in one night.
They can do anything they like. Of course
they can. Of course they can save Tim. Hallo,
my fine fellow!
Boy. Hallo!
Scrooge. Do you know the poulterers23 in the
next street at the corner?
Boy. I should hope I do.
Scrooge. An intelligent boy. A remarkable boy.
Do you know whether they’ve sold the prize
turkey that was hanging up there? Not the
little prize; the big one.
Boy. What, the one as big as me?
Scrooge. What a delightful boy! Yes, my bucko!
Boy. It’s hanging there now.
Scrooge. It is? Go and buy it.
Boy. G’wan!
Scrooge. I’m in earnest! Go and buy it and
tell ’em to bring it here that I may give them
the direction where to take it. Come back
with the butcher and I’ll give you a shilling.
Come back in less than two minutes and
I’ll give you half a crown!
Boy. Right, guv! (He exits.)
Scrooge. I’ll send it to Bob Cratchit’s. He
shan’t know who sends it. It’s twice the size
of Tiny Tim and such a Christmas dinner it
will make. (Carolers suddenly appear singing
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” Scrooge leans
23. poulterers (pIlPtEr-Erz): people who sell poultry, such as chickens and turkeys.
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out the window and joins them in the song.)
I must dress, I must. It’s Christmas Day! I must
be all in my best for such a day. Where is my
China silk shirt? (The boy and the butcher run
in with the turkey.) What? Back already? And
such a turkey. Why, you can’t carry that all the
way to Cratchit’s. Here, boy, here is your half
a crown and here an address in Camden Town.
See that it gets there. Here, money for the cab,
for the turkey, and for you, good man! (The
boy and the butcher, delighted, catch the money
and run out. Scrooge sees the gentleman visitor
walking by the window.) Halloo, sir!
Gentleman Visitor (looking up sadly, less than
festive). Hello, sir.
Scrooge. My dear sir, how do you do? I hope
you succeeded yesterday. It was very kind of
you to stop by to see me.
Gentleman Visitor (in disbelief ). Mr. Scrooge?
Scrooge. Yes, that is my name, and I fear it may
not be pleasant to you. Allow me to ask your
pardon, and will you have the goodness to add
this (throwing him a purse) to your good work!
Gentleman Visitor. Lord bless me! My dear
Mr. Scrooge, are you serious?
Scrooge. If you please, not a penny less. A great
many back payments are included in it, I assure
you. Will you do me that favor?
Gentleman Visitor. My dear sir, I don’t know
what I can say to such generosity . . .
Scrooge. Say nothing! Accept it. Come and see
me. Will you come and see me?
Gentleman Visitor. I will.
Scrooge. Thank ’ee. I am much obliged to you.
I thank you fifty times. God bless you and
Merry Christmas!
Gentleman Visitor. Merry Christmas to
you, sir!
Scrooge (running downstairs, out of his house,
and onto the street). Now which is the way
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to that nephew’s house. Girl! Girl!
Girl (appearing immediately). Yes, sir?
Scrooge. Can you find me a taxi, miss?
Girl. I can, sir. (She rings her doll, and a
coachman appears.)
Scrooge (handing the coachman a card ).
Can you show me the way to this home?
Coachman. I can, sir.
Scrooge. Good man. Come up, girl. (They
mount to the top of the taxi. This action may
be stylistically suggested.) Would you be
an old man’s guide to a Christmas dinner?
Girl. I would, sir, and God bless you!
Scrooge. Yes, God bless us every one! (raising
his voice almost in song) Driver, to Christmas!
(They exit, all three singing “Joy to the World.”
Blackout. The lights come up for the finale24
at Fred’s house. The Cratchits are there with
Tiny Tim. All stop moving and talking when
they see Scrooge standing in the center,
embarrassed and humble.) Well, I’m very glad
to be here at my nephew’s house! (He starts
to cry.) Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
All (softly). Merry Christmas. (They sing “Deck
the Halls,” greeting one another and exchanging
gifts. Scrooge puts Tiny Tim on his shoulders.)
Tiny Tim (shouting as the carol ends). God bless
us every one!
Scrooge (to the audience). Oh, yes! God bless
us every one!
24. finale (fE-nBlPC): conclusion.
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